pumpkin guts, beer and shadowzone

     Booyah!  It's Hallowfuckingween!  This makes my 31st Halloween-specific post this month containing original artwork by yours truly and I couldn't be more tickled with myself!

      What I have for you today is the result of my latest pumpkin carving efforts and a little amateur video.  From the makers of Flickering In The Dark, comes a new short film:



The players:



Corey Feldpumpkin


Jack "I Love My Job" O'Lantern
     I apologize for the embarrassing names but my brain is a bit fried from having to work Saturday, two beers, way too much Chinese delivery and my first viewing of the Full Moon classic, Shadowzone.  Not a bad flick, by the way.  Some pretty decent sci-fi, horror action plus boobies and wang.

     Well, my hands still smell like pumpkin guts and I'm awfully greasy from a day's work so I'm going to go stagger into the shower.  Thanks so much for stopping by and have an amazing Halloween.

the end is nigh!

     Well, here we are.  The month is all but gone and it looks like I'm going to make it.  What started out as a half-hearted, "Yeah, sure, I'll participate in the Halloween blogging festivities" has turned into quite the experience for me.

     I've thrown myself into my artwork this month.  I've learned I can apply a kind of work ethic to my art.  I've made new contacts with fellow artists, made new net friends and had a blast in general.  I want to thank everyone for their support and for the great content on your respective blogs.  I also appreciate you guys putting up with my sometimes awkward comments.  This is my very first blog and my Net Fu is rather weak when it comes to the blogging community in general.

     Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.  I just want to say it's been great and I'm already looking forward to next year.  Tomorrow I plan to carve my final pumpkins of the season with pics and video to follow!

sorority death party

     Loosely inspired by Zombie Rust's Uncle Satan, I just finished this minutes ago because I am awesome (and humble).  I can still smell the marker fumes...  and cantaloupes are walking on my eyes!

     This kinda looks like a scene from a cheesy horror movie with a floating, hairy skull demon terrorizing a sorority pool party, bake sale, wet t-shirt contest.  Written, directed and produced by Charles Band, of course.

     Holy bejeezus crap!  There's only two more days left in October.  I am both relieved and saddened by this fact.

demon bird

(click for full size)
     Here's my latest watercolor experimentation.  I actually went out and bought some 90lb. watercolor paper and I have to say it makes a big difference.  You can work a little wetter and don't have to wait for stuff to dry before adding layers.  Also, much less warping when dry.

     As for content, this didn't turn out exactly like I wanted.  I'm still quite the novice painter and a wet, soft brush doesn't lend itself as easily to the hard, fast lines I'm accustomed to in my marker drawings.  While this demon bird creature doesn't look friendly, he's definitely not as menacing as I had hoped for.  Looks more like a Mardi Gras parade costume than a voracious demon from hell attempting to devour your soul.  Oh well, I'm still learning.

     I hope Demon Bird has added a little fuzzy, feathery interest to your day as we slide into the final days of October.

fuzzy skeletonians redux #4

(ADULT CONTENT BELOW)


     Much like the undead creatures it depicts, this damn redux series just won't die (god, I hate typing that subject line!).  Anyway, thanks to God, Greyhound and Tim Thomerson my drawing/painting hand is feeling just fine and here's my latest, hot off the scanner.

     Maybe I'm just flattering myself but I think this fuzzy skellie in particular is the most badass of the redux series thus far.  I was very happy to be creating something new for the final stretch of Octoberween and I put my enthusiasm to work, giving this guy all the energy I could.

     Tune in tomorrow for my latest watercolor creation.  Woot!

skull ghosts and dollman

     This one just screamed out to be negative-ized so that's what I did.  Had to experiment for a minute to get the right shade of color that's the opposite of the nice electric blue you see here but I think it worked out well enough.  The blue makes my little skully guy look a bit ghost-like.

     Last night I gave my drawing hand a good hot soak while watching Dollman and I think the raw power and undeniable charisma of Tim Thomerson helped my hand heal up a bit.  I hope to resume my Octoberween drawing efforts tomorrow!

plantar fasciitis and hairy monsters

     Meet my crouching monster, with his winning smile, tufts of attractive hair and spiky boots.  Incidentally, this is also one of the ways to cure your plantar fasciitis, except you should be on a flat surface and not on the crushed body parts of those who would defy you.

     Thought I'd fiddle around with this one digitally to at least give it a new look and some color.  Kinda low-key tonight so I'll stop here.  Thanks for taking a look.

my mind and a flying brick

(ADULT CONTENT BELOW)


     Here's another one of my India ink experiments, including a ghoul face, a spider type thing and a, well... a flying brick.  Yeah, I dunno, man.  Sometimes I wonder about myself.

     Despite the self-mockery, this is definitely one of my personal favorites.  The way the ghoul seems to drool a stream of consciousness of disfigured shapes, vomiting mouths, tortured mini-skeletons and, of course, peen.  There might also be a slight amount of bitterness being expressed with the vomiting happy birthday creature.  Just another day in the life of my mind from the past decade.

     I have to say I'm enjoying using some of my past works for the current run of my Octoberpalooza.  I'm definitely going to set aside and save up images all year long for next year.  Makes for a much more relaxed celebration.

i'm not scared, my eyes always look like this

     Drawn during the same session as my Ghoulie Ghouls, I didn't include this one in the series since it just turned out looking more like some scared dude than a ghoul.  I guess somebody had to be frightened of all the ghouls I was drawing at the time.

destructive creation

(ADULT CONTENT BELOW)


     Draw shortly after Torso Man, this is early evidence that I was already in the habit of artistically tearing apart my previous creations.  I didn't realize it at the time, of course, but looking back it's quite obvious.  This 20/20 hindsight, however, wasn't really developed until recently.

     Earlier this month, when I posted Bone Pile, I received some very valuable input in the comments which helped me realize my tendency towards ripping apart and possibly reassembling my creations.  While the thought of destruction and creation both being parts of the same whole isn't an unfamiliar concept to me, having that dynamic illustrated to me via my own artwork was quite an illuminating experience.  In short, blogging rules.

      Haha, Octoberween!  I've made it this far.  Just nine more posts and you'll be my bitch!  Woot!

memories of feathers

     Well, the bad news is my right hand is starting to weaken from all the jerking off drawing I've been doing this month.  The good news is I dug deep into my sketchbooks and found a few more unposted past works that can be safely put into the horror/Halloween category.  They may not be new but they're at least new to you, and that's fair play in my book.  At this point in the month I'm not looking to place, I just hope to finish the marathon.  If that means I have to end up using my left hand (the stranger) to complete a few drawings then so be it.

     This work is among some of the last I completed during the initial run of the Sharpie craze in my 30's.  I may have to revisit the quickly drawn feathers on either side of this guy's face.  I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoyed that sort of thing.  Perhaps I'll try to do a fallen angel theme, building on the idea I created with dickhead.  It's a thought.

crazy bones

     First off, I'd like to welcome the new followers I've gotten his month.  It's great to connect with people of similar interests and pursuits!


     I've decided to go ahead and end the redux series since I seem to be drifting away from actual skellies (not to mention typing that thing out in the subject line every time was starting to get on my nerves).

     What I have for you today, while fuzzy, is really more reminiscent of the more general category of the Sharpie craze than anything else.  Not strictly part of the craze, this was definitely drawn in the same sort of style.  I also find it encouraging that I was able to think of the idea of the bones converging on the skull in the center before I started the drawing.  Most of the time my drawings just sort of happen and I don't know what I'm going to end up creating until it's done.

     I better stop rambling for now.  Thanks for taking a peek.

fuzzy skeletonians redux #3

     More of a skully than a skellie, Bonehead here was drawn using seventeen different types of llamas.  Or maybe it was just three different shades of gray markers and two sizes of black markers.  I'll let you decide.

     As for content, perhaps the bones on either side of the skull are depicting the self-imposed pressure that I have on myself this month.  I know that sounds a bit like whining but I'm going to keep up the pace, as I find it interesting that I am able to apply a kind of work ethic to my artwork lately.  This is something I've never really had the desire to do before and it sheds a new light on possibilities regarding my life as an artist.

     Enough about me.  I hope Bonehead has brought a little fuzzy light into your fine October day.  Thanks and enjoy.

fuzzy skeletonians redux #2

     This skellie ended up being a bit more fleshy than what I usually draw.  He also seems to be happily doing aerobics or some shit.  What the hell, man!?  I just drew this yesterday, so hell if I know what's going on with it.

     There's more to come in this series.  Stay tuned as I continue to square off with Octoberween.

fuzzy skeletonians redux #1

     Our hero, Kung Fu Skellie, leaps through the fuzzy opening of the cave and readies himself for battle!  Confronted by his adversary, he assumes the stance of his chosen Hairy Bone style!  The fuzzy opening of the cave suddenly becomes moist and begins to close in around him and...  and...

     And I think it's quite obvious what the central theme of this drawing is.  I'm nothing if not consistent.

     Anyway, here's my latest series.  It's nothing too ground breaking for me but I wanted to revisit my fuzzy skellies because I enjoy drawing them and I wanted to continue working with my new gray tones.  I'm not sure how long this current run will last but I have at least one more after this one.  I'll keep posting them as long as they keep coming to me.

color tasks me, and i shall have it

     No... Color. The game's not over.  To the last, I will grapple with thee!  From hell's heart, I stab at thee!  For hate's sake...  I spit my last breath at thee!

     I'll admit it.  Color is the great white whale to my Khan of art.  It is something that I am both very familiar with yet seem to know nothing about.  Sorta like the tag line for the Othello board game:  "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master."  What you see above is one of my Halloween decorations I threw on the scanner and added a dark t-shirt over it to give it a nice background.  While I think it turned out well, it definitely wasn't an easy or pleasurable process.  All of these colors were experimented with and hard fought choices on my part.  However, this is something I need to do more often if I am to have any hope of bringing my artworks to the level I aspire to.

     This started out as a little color experimentation and ended up what is now due to my still having Andy Warhol on the brain from yesterday's post.  I know there's differing opinions regarding Warhol, and with good reason, but I'm proud to say that I am definitely of the slant that the man was a fucking genius.  He understood the very essential, basic nature of art and artists.  He was a master of color, repetition and design.  He also exhibited an insanely firm grasp and awareness of subjectivity in his art, giving it such a global accessibility and appeal.  If I can achieve in my art even a small fraction of the scope that Warhol was able to I would be very satisfied.

     I'll wrap this up by saying that I hope my Octoberween efforts so far this month have been worth your time.  Thanks for stopping by and taking an interest.

flickering in the dark

     As promised yesterday, here's the video. Nothing too exciting, just some nice, soothing flickering:

     The roaring sound in the background is the air purifier in the living room.  I just let the camera sit there and tried to draw out the jack-o-lantern's very soul!  Sorta like one of those Andy Warhol living portrait films where he persuaded people to just sit in front of the camera and do whatever they wanted.

first of the season!

     Guess what I did.  Yessiree, I carved me up a pumpkin!  Here's the photo, as promised.  I wish I could jam this whole thing into my wireless adapter and send you all a real life copy of it so you can smell the fresh pumpkin rind and see the candles flickering.  Actually, I also shot some video tonight and as soon as I can get that bad boy uploaded to the YouTube you actually will be able to see the candles flickering!  We'll just have to wait for them to invent the Scenternet and YouStink before you can experience the fresh smell of pumpkin rind.  Oh wait!  You can carve your own pumpkin, right?  Right!?  Go carve and pumpkin and post the dang picture/video!  Go, man, go!

pumpkin patch, 3 of 3

     While using my new gray markers my mind was on the subject of color tones.  I noticed how stacking progressively darker tones on top of lighter tones was having an interesting effect and, boing!, I remembered an exercise in one of my early art classes where we were instructed to find the gray tone of a color using only pencil.  I think we used some color magazine photos to work from and our work was checked by the teacher making a non-color photocopy of the magazine images and comparing the gray tones we drew to the gray tones in the photocopied image.  All in all, a very good exercise, very memorable.

      Anyway, I got a little ambitious and thought about what would happen if I reversed that scenario?  What if I tried to see only the gray tones in colors and attempted to draw with them as though I was completely color blind?  As it was, I was stacking two or three gray tones before finishing with black on the previous images in this trilogy, therefore, two or three colors should be used in this experiment.  To keep things fairly simple I settled on the three primary colors: yellow, red and blue.  Yellow obviously having the lightest tone and blue the darkest.  I started with yellow (bad for the eyes, by the way) and began stacking, finishing with black.  What you see above is the end result.  I'm happy to say I think I succeeded.  If you grayscale this image it looks pretty similar to the others.  Yay!  Go me!

     Well, I'll stop wanking now and let you enjoy the final entry in my latest Octoberween trilogy.

pumpkin patch, 2 of 3

     After my initial experimentation with my newly acquired gray tones I settled down a bit and made these little guys.  Despite my best efforts they seemed to have turned out more adorable than creepy.

     Adorable because they seem to be honestly scared.  Frightened out of their cute little pumpkin skulls.  So often in real life fear manifests itself as anger, intolerance, stubbornness or other similar emotions that so conveniently feign strength.  People often choose to lie and appear strong, while the more natural reaction of honest fear is often regarded as a sign of weakness.

     Feh, I'll stop philosophizing and just say that's one of the great things about Halloween.  We get to go around and be scary and get scared and don't have to worry about what people think of us.  And it's fun.

pumpkin patch, 1 of 3

     I went out this weekend and got some new markers to increase my selection of gray tones.  Another purchase included my first pumpkin of the season!  Woot!

     What you see above is the combination of the aforementioned purchases.  I know it looks like I drew this bad boy from memory but I actually had my pumpkin in front of me while I was drawing.  It's just that the damned thing is so perfectly round and generic!  I'll be sure to get one with more character next time.  Anyhow, I think the gray tones worked decently and while this isn't the most inspired drawing I've ever done I think it has some merit.

     Tune in tomorrow for a more interesting use of my new markers.

funny faces, 2 of 2

     With this post I'm back on track for Octoberween!  That's important since I'm still flying by the seat of my pants and can't afford to get even a little behind this month.

     This face seems a little happier and less anxious than the first.  I think it's the eyebrows (what is it with me and my reaction to eyebrows?).  Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed my Funny Faces duo.  Thanks, I'll be here all month!

funny faces, 1 of 2

     I know I gave you guys double images in my previous jack-o-patterns post to make up for the one image I was behind so far, but I'm not going to be satisfied with my efforts this month unless I have at least 31 Halloween-specific posts by the end.

      So here it is:  A duo of posts for today, in jack-o-lantern style, that I actually drew back in my 30's when I was trying out a brand new broad tip Sharpie in the midst of the craze.  Drawn quickly, with a more upbeat style that most of the craze, I have only two of these.  It quite naturally followed that these would be my double-header posts to make up for my minor misstep early in the month.

     Thanks for taking a look and the second face will follow later this evening.

jack-o-patterns

     Are you carving a pumpkin this year?

     'Cause I'm carving myself a goddamned, motherfucking pumpkin!  I may carve two.  I don't care if we we only got one trick-or-treater last year.  I'm cutting open a pumpkin's head, pulling all its ooey-gooey brains out with my bare hands and carving the shit out of its freshly hollowed-out skull.  Then I'm gonna cram a few candles in it, light them bitches and rock it old school.  Hopefully, the G.I. down the street will get drunk, try to steal my totally boss jack-o-fucking-lanterns, trip and fall while holding them, making a big mess of blood, candle wax and a mix of smashed pumpkin and human skull all over the end of our drive way.  Then I'll take a picture and post it for everyone's gory enjoyment!

     Wow, that turned into quite a spew.  Anyhoo, I'm carving a pumpkin (or two).  If you like any of the patterns I've drawn above you are free to use them for your carving creation this year.  I'll be sure to take a picture of my jack-o-lanterns when I'm done with them.  Peace.

nega-demon

(ADULT CONTENT BELOW)


     What's the month of October without a little crazy, fucked up, shit?  That's what I always say.  My demon here isn't coming to kill you.  No, not right away.  That sword ain't designed for no quick death my fine fine friend.

     I know this looks like a series but it wasn't really planned that way.  I'm just enjoying the effect that a simple negative tweak can have on a drawing.  Gotta run, tight schedule today.  Enjoy.

bone pile

     I was gonna let this one ripen a little but it's Octoberween and I've got to pull out all the stops if I'm going to get 31 images out to you guys (I'm already one behind as it is which will require a double-header post at some point, possibly this weekend).

     The pile o' bones here was simply drawn with markers and tweaked slightly with my image editor of choice.  While it's not as delightfully absurd as an Evil Bong I hope it nonetheless adds a little creepy, weirdness to your day.

ghoulie ghouls, 3 of 3

     Here it is, boys and girls, the third and final Ghoulie Ghoul!  He's old, he's hairy and he's probably got breath that'd dissolve titanium!  If he looks strangely familiar, this drawing was based on the same Halloween decoration I photographed and futzed with to get my profile pic.  One of my favorites from my modest collection of holiday ghouls that I've accumulated over the years from Walgreens' sometimes surprisingly good selection of Halloween baddies (no I'm not getting paid to say that).

     Walgreens commercial aside, I hope my Ghoulie Ghouls have worked their way into your hearts and nightmares this fine fine October.  Thank you and stay tuned as I continue to flail my way through the month!

ghoulie ghouls, 2 of 3

     I'm enjoying the combo of gray and black markers.  It's an easy way to add both depth and speed to my drawings.  Cranking these out, fast and spontaneous, was a very freeing experience.  I get so meticulous sometimes and it can eventually start to get on my nerves.

     I hope you're enjoying my Ghoulie Ghouls trilogy.  I've tried to save the best for last.  Stay tuned for more Octoberween fun.

ghoulie ghouls, 1 of 3

     I sat myself down in front of my ghoulie ghoul Halloween decorations and cranked out some drawings over this past weekend.  I'm flyin' by the seat of my pants this October but, dammit, I'm gonna contribute to the festivities as best I can!

     I have to say I'm excited and pleased with the drawings I completed.  This one in particular gives me the total deja vu for some reason.  I think it's the fuzzy eyebrows and frowny eye sockets.  It's almost like I've drawn something very similar to it before.  I'll have to leaf through my sketchbooks when I get around to it.  Man, these felt good.  It was almost like I was back in a college drawing class putting forth a sincere effort and trying to improve myself.  Good stuff, man.

a strong weakness

     This is how I feel most of the time.  Strong and powerful, yet weak and crippled.  Always waxing and waning, never committing to one path or the other and always despising the path that I'm on.  Meh, got a little heavy there.

     More early Sharpie craze, before all the bones and hair.  Just added a minor finishing touch today, post scan.  Not sure what the shoulder protrusions and/or horns are about.  Seems to be a recurring theme.

cry golem

     Another one of the great things about Halloween is that it suddenly gives the weird things I normally draw on a regular basis some acceptable context and appropriateness.

     Drawn just last last week, I think this shows the continued beginnings of my style in a state of flux and, hopefully, development.  I'm at least using something more than just black markers (ooh, two colors!) and not relying so heavily on skulls and skeletons.  I hope this trend continues and I hope my latest creation adds to your enjoyment of the season.

okay, who gave him the hatchet?

     Some quick zombies to start off the greatest month ever.  A month so great that it brought my wife into the world and it all ends with what used to be hands down my favorite holiday.  The last couple of years Halloween and 4th of July have been running neck and neck in my mind but that doesn't take away from the fact that they're both awesome holidays.  If only there was a way to legally combine blood, guts and gore with big explosions and lots of sparks.  Pumpkin bomb filled with pig entrails?  Maybe.  I'll have to give that some more thought.